Quest for Olympic Gold in Rio Makes Rugby Sevens a Priority

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Zack Test of the United States, top, being tackled by New Zealand’s Augustine Pulu during a World Sevens Series match in Dubai in December. In rugby sevens, second-tier nations like the United States are closing the gap on the traditional powers.CreditWarren Little/Getty Images

By Emma Stoney

Jan. 28, 2016

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A few years ago, seeing the New Zealand sevens rugby team in seventh place in the World Sevens Series would have been unthinkable.

But that is the reality for the team, a 12-time champion; as sevens rugby heads into its biggest year yet, the competition is tougher than ever.

Rugby’s return to the Olympics in August — after a more than 90-year absence — means the rugby world’s focus this year will be on sevens rugby, the shorter, more dynamic and less complicated seven-player version that will be played at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Just weeks after New Zealand’s All Blacks won their second straight Rugby World Cup in October, the New Zealand sevens team was beginning its march to Rio with a lot less fanfare and success in the World Sevens Series, the top level of competition in the sport.

A run of serious injuries to New Zealand’s best players during the first two tournaments of this season’s World Sevens Series, in Dubai and in Cape Town, combined with the increasingly competitive nature of the series, have left New Zealand’s team trailing Fiji, South Africa, the United States, Argentina, England and France early in the standings.

The gap between traditionally strong sevens teams — Fiji, New Zealand, South Africa and England — and teams like the United States, Argentina and France has steadily closed since 2009, when rugby was added back into the Olympic program. (The 15-player version was played the last time rugby was in the Olympics, in 1924, when the United States won.)

The lure of Olympic gold — and access to funding from Olympic associations — has seen countries that have not traditionally been strong in rugby pour more money into sevens, for both men and women.

While the New Zealand Rugby Union has given priority to the 15s team over the years, its sevens team has still been a standard-bearer globally. But lately, the sevens team has slipped back in the pack.

For a long time in countries where the 15-player version of rugby is dominant, sevens was seen as a sideshow. Once players had cracked a national 15s team, they were unlikely to play sevens again unless they were called upon for major events like the Sevens World Cup or the Commonwealth Games — or if they were dropped from a 15s team and wanted to use sevens as a way to get back in.

But the Olympics have changed all that — particularly in the eyes of administrators.

The New Zealand Rugby Union has made it clear that in 2016, sevens rugby will take priority — even ahead of the All Blacks — as it targets gold for its men’s and women’s teams in Rio.

But some of the players do not see it in the same light, preferring to concentrate on securing an All Blacks jersey instead of an Olympic medal — something that Steve Tew, the rugby union’s chief executive, has indicated was surprising and disappointing.

“Would we prefer to have two or three star 15s players say yes to Rio? Yes, we would, but we haven’t,” Tew said last month.

While many All Blacks were offered the opportunity to play sevens this year — including Beauden Barrett, Ben Smith and Julian Savea, who have played sevens for New Zealand previously — only two players from the World Cup-winning team made the switch: Sonny Bill Williams and Liam Messam.

Neither Williams nor Messam played in the first two rounds of the World Series, but Williams was to make his debut in Wellington this weekend in the third round.

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Michaela Blyde of the New Zealand women’s sevens team, playing against Brazil.CreditFrancois Nel/Getty Images

With the Olympics just over six months away, the New Zealand union is not pushing the panic button yet with its sevens team.

The 12-man roster for the Wellington tournament has been bolstered not only by Williams but by four Super Rugby players who have played sevens for New Zealand before: Ardie Savea, Ben Lam and two brothers, Akira and Rieko Ioane.

“As much as we want to win the World Series and as much as we want to win Wellington or any tournament that we’re part of this year, the bigger goal for us is giving everyone the opportunity to be selected for Rio,” the New Zealand sevens coach, Gordon Tietjens, said after naming his roster. “That’s why these four players are with me now.”

“I’ve got a talented side,” he continued, “but it might take us a little while to find our feet, to get the combinations jelling.”

Elsewhere, high-profile players are starting to tune up for the Olympics. The South African test players Juan de Jongh and Francois Hougaard played in Dubai and Cape Town and will also play in Wellington, while the Australian winger Henry Speight played in Dubai.

Australia fullback Israel Folau has yet to decide if he will put himself forward for Olympic selection, but Quade Cooper renegotiated his contract with the French club Toulon and will play for Australia in tournaments in Sydney, Paris and London with an eye to selection for Rio.

Agustín Pichot, an executive on the Argentina Rugby Union board and a member of World Rugby’s executive committee, has also said players who helped Argentina to a fourth-place finish at last year’s Rugby World Cup could be in its sevens team in Rio.

Pichot, who was a driving force behind rugby’s return to the Games, also believes that after the successful World Cup, in England, the Olympics — being held in soccer-mad Brazil — will be another important moment for rugby as it pushes to become a truly global sport.

“It will make it easier for more children to come into contact with rugby,” Pichot told the official Olympic website, Rio2016.com. “In Latin America the desire to see rugby grow is very large. The expectation is enormous.”

That push for expansion has never been more evident than in women’s sevens. According to World Rugby, more than 25 percent of the 7.2 million players worldwide are female, across 15s and sevens. Sevens has been the catalyst for that growth, and there is now a Women’s Sevens Series.

As for the Olympics, 11 of the 12 teams — in both the men’s and women’s competitions — have already qualified.

In the men’s competition, Fiji, South Africa, New Zealand and Britain (via England) qualified after those nations finished in the top four of the 2014-15 World Series. Argentina, the United States, France, Japan, Australia and Kenya joined them after winning their regional qualifying competitions, while Brazil qualified as the host country.

In the women’s competition, alongside the Brazilian hosts, New Zealand, Canada, Australia and Britain (via England) qualified by finishing in the top four of last season’s World Series.

Colombia, the United States, France, Fiji and Japan earned their spots after winning their regional tournaments, while Kenya earned its spot as the runner-up in its qualifying tournament after South Africa’s Olympic Association withdrew its team.

The final spot in each competition will be decided at tournaments in June.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B11 of the New York edition with the headline: Where Rugby Is King, Few Seek Olympic Crown . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe